Author Archives: Charlotte Higgins
The tragedy of the lost Classics—mourning the Greek and Roman works of literature we'll never get to read
So much was lost, we don't even know what we're missing
Forget Boris Johnson—the classics are for the working classes too
There is nothing inevitable about the connection between an interest in the Greco-Roman world and being a posh white man
Medusa was punished for being raped—so why do we still depict her as a monster?
It's time to reassess one of Greek mythology's most famous characters
How studying classics taught me how to appreciate art
Painters can be acute readers of classical poetry
The mythological roots of the "wicked Stepmother" trope
Ancient stories, whether we know them or not, have a kind of purchase in our consciousness. Just look at how our culture portrays stepmothers...
Flowery language: decoding the classical origins of botanical terms
"Hyacinthus was struck, and died—but from the blood a lovely flower was born"
How Roman Britain invented modern Britain
White supremacists deny the long history of non-Europeans in Britain, in the teeth of evidence literally carved in stone
Do Hermes couriers know about their classical links to the underworld?
Hermes, Trojan, Rubicon—for the Classically-minded, brand names can be a major source of amusement
What classics can teach us about the Brexit labyrinth
The original myth is no less weird and insane than the UK’s current political situation—though a touch more sexually lurid
Carpe sententias: why it's time to rescue Latin from the Jacob Rees-Moggs of the world
There's something to be said for a Classics-inspired motivational phrase—we might even beat the public-schoolboy Latin tweeters at their own game...
Ask a classicist: is Donald Trump more of a Caligula or a Nero?
Trump's presidency has given rise to a depressing parlour game
Revenge porn, slut-shaming and jealousy—how the ancient Romans wrote about love
Like a lot of literature from the past, it reads a little differently post #MeToo.